LGNZLife Members as at July 2019:

Geoff Geering QSO, JP

Geoff is a former mayor of Ashburton District Council, having served continuously for 18 years. He was the last President of the Municipal Association of New Zealand, serving from 1987 to 1988 and was an inaugural Vice President of the New Zealand Local Government Association. He was elected as President in 1990, finishing his term in 1993. Geoff was awarded Life Membership of the New Zealand Local Government Association in 1994.

Basil Morrison CNZM, JP

Basil's local government career began when he was elected to Ohinemuri County in 1971 at the age of 24. He served on the body, latterly as County Chairman, until it was amalgamated and reformed as Hauraki District in 1989. In the same year he was elected mayor of Hauraki District and held the position until his retirement in 2004. At that time he was awarded the Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit. He is a former chair of the Commonweath Local Government Forum and was President of LGNZ from 2000 to 2008. He was awarded Life Membership of LGNZ in 2009.

Sir Barry Curtis

Sir Barry was first elected as a Manukau City Councillor in 1968, three years after Manukau City was formed and he was re-elected in 1971, 1974,1977 and 1980. He was also elected in 1971 to the Auckland Regional Authority, the predecessor of the Auckland Regional Council and was re-elected in 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1983. From 1977 to 1983 he was Chairman of the Authority's regional planning committee. Sir Barry was the Mayor of Manukau from 1983 until 2007. When he announced his intention to retire in 2007, he was New Zealand's longest standing mayor at that time. In the 1992 New Year Honours, he was made a knight for services to local government and the community. He was awarded Life Membership of LGNZ in 2016.

Sir Robert Harvey KNZM QSO

Sir Bob Harvey is the champion for Auckland responsible for International Investment, he was recently Chairman of Waterfront Auckland responsible for delivering a world class waterfront for Auckland City. Sir Bob is the Chairman of the Telecom Spark Foundation, Chairman of BNZ West and holds the position of Vice President of Mayors for Peace. He served 6 terms as Mayor of the city of Waitakere, retiring in November 2010. He was awarded the United Nations award for Peace in 1997 and the United Nations Life Time Achievement Award for the Environment in 2007. Sir Bob was awarded Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours for 2013 for services to local body affairs and the community. He was awarded Life Membership of LGNZ in 2016.

Colin Dale

Colin Dale has been involved in the local government sector for a significant number of years. Mr Dale was the Chief Executive of Manukau City Council for 20 years, a commissioner of Kaipara District Council and is currently the interim Chief Executive at the Far North District Council. During his time in local government he has been active at the national level in a range of capabilities and has contributed to workshops and seminars organised by LGNZ. He was awarded Life Membership of LGNZ in 2016.

Penny Webster

Penny Webster is a former mayor of Rodney District, a councillor on the Auckland Council and a member on LGNZ’s National Council. She was also an MP from 1999 to 2002. Before entering politics, Webster was a farmer, and headed the Auckland branch of the Federated Farmers organisation. In December 2008 she was unanimously elected as the chair of the Auckland Mayoral Forum. She served as the Chairperson of the Strategy and Finance Committee and was re-elected in 2013 for a further term. Penny chaired the LGNZ Funding Review work and was also appointed by the former Environment Minister to sit on a technical advisory board on reforms to the Resource Management Act. She was awarded Life Membership of LGNZ in 2018.

Lawrence Yule

Lawrence Yule was Mayor of the Hastings District for 15 years, President of Local Government New Zealand for 9 years and recently retired as Chair of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum after 6 years. Lawrence has led and developed a number of large regional projects including the building of the Pettigrew Green Arena and the Hawkes Bay Regional Sports Park. He is currently leading the strengthening of the Hawkes Bay Opera House. His community interests include being a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary and a Trustee of the U-Turn Trust which assists the people of Flaxmere. Lawrence has special interests in climate change, environment issues, infrastructure and local government.